Mayor Reed's May eNewsletter

Mayor Chuck Reed's eNewsletter

City of San Jose

May 2011

Mayor Reed donned a pair of pink Crocs as he and other community leaders spoke out against sexual assault at the YWCA's annual "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" event through Downtown San Jose. Proceeds from the annual event support the YWCA's Rape Crisis Center and other YWCA assault-prevention services. (Photo by Jerad Ferguson)

Mayor Reed Renews Call for Concessions and Fiscal Reform Following Release of the City Manager's Proposed Budget

Mayor Reed On May 2, City Manager Debra Figone released her proposed operating budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2011. The proposal outlines a number of drastic cuts necessary to close a $115 million General Fund shortfall, such as: cutting 195 sworn police positions, eliminating 64 sworn firefighter positions, and reducing branch library hours to three days per week. Learn more about the proposed reductions

Mayor Reed has renewed his call for all City employees to accept a 10% reduction in total compensation (from 2009-2010 salary levels) to avoid even deeper service cuts and layoffs. So far, five employee bargaining groups and executive management staff have agreed, saving $13 million. However, if the City cannot reach agreements with the remaining six employee bargaining groups, the City would be forced to eliminate another 440 positions, including 150 police officers.

With retirement costs projected to skyrocket even more in the coming years, Mayor Reed has also reiterated the need for fiscal reforms to help restore critical services: "We cannot continue to cut services and lay off employees year after year. We must attack the root causes of our structural budget deficit so we can restore police and fire services, libraries and community centers." Read the Mayor's entire statement

Mayor Reed will release his final budget recommendations to the City Manager's proposed budget on June 3.

- View the City Manager's proposed budget summary & entire proposed budget
- View the schedule of remaining Community Budget Meetings
- View the upcoming Budget Study Sessions schedule

Disability Retirement System in Need of Reform

Disability Claim Mayor Reed, Vice Mayor Nguyen and Councilmember Liccardo have called for implementing reforms to fix the City's broken disability retirement system.

A recent City Auditor report found that 2/3 of San Jose fire fighters and 1/3 of San Jose police officers receive a disability retirement - rates that are considerably higher than in other jurisdictions. In some cases, employees were granted a disability retirement even though they were working full-time in their regular job up until the day they retired. Read the report

On May 3, the City Council directed city staff to bring back a proposal in June which integrates recommendations from the City Auditor's report, including:

A ballot measure amending the City Charter to clarify that disability retirement is intended for employees who are incapable of engaging in any gainful employment.
An independent committee to review and rule on disability retirement applications.

Public Meetings on Redistricting to be Held this May

Every 10 years, the City of San Jose establishes new City Council District boundaries to ensure equal representation for all of its citizens. This effort is aided by a Redistricting Advisory Commission, which gathers public input and uses the latest U.S. Census data to develop recommendations for the City Council.

The Redistricting Advisory Commission is currently hosting a series of public meetings throughout the city for residents to share their comments. The Commission will be finalizing its recommendations by the end of the month and the City Council must establish final District boundaries by October 31, 2011.

Learn more about San Jose's 2011 Redistricting effort.

Share your Input on
the Budget

Weigh in on budget proposals at an upcoming City Council Budget Study Session. You are also invited to attend one of the city's remaining Community Budget Meetings.

Mayor Reed on KCBS

Listen to Mayor Reed discuss the budget, fiscal reforms and more during his recent appearance on KCBS "In-Depth".

Beautiful Day: Project Restoration

On May 21, help clean up our neighborhoods during this City-sponsored service project.

Learn more

Downtown Farmers Market Begins May 6

Find fresh food, flowers, crafts, and more at this weekly San Pedro Square event through Nov. 18.
Learn more

Bowling for Badges
on May 12

Grab your friends and register a team of bowlers for this annual tournament. Proceeds help provide safety and technology equipment for the San Jose Police Department.
Learn more